Politico’s Dylan Byers insisted on Thursday he wanted no part of the quarrel between Nate Silver and Paul Krugman.
“I hope no one expects me to cover this petty Silver – Krugman shit,” Byers wrote on Twitter before he feigned more annoyance and publicly agreed to cover the feud.
Byers then went on to write about the “real problem” with Silver’s latest retort to Krugman. He followed that up with another post on Friday that criticized Silver for being too sensitive.
“Silver’s attack on Krugman this week has been the subject of (far too) much coverage,” Byers wrote in what was his second piece on Silver’s attack in less than 24 hours.
If there’s anyone who knows about being on the other side of a feud with Silver, it’s a Politico reporter. The Beltway outlet has repeatedly squabbled with Silver dating back to the 2012 presidential election.
Politico’s co-founders Jim VandeHei and John Harris were both dismissive of Silver’s expertise last summer (Silver promptly responded in kind). And even after his woeful suggestion in 2012 that Silver might end up a “one-term celebrity,” Byers hasn’t been able to let go of his own bitterness toward the stats guru.
